


Gonna be a Bright, Sunshiny day.

by paranoidpeaches (orphan_account)



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Ainsley is 13, Alot of things are in the past huh, Alternate Universe - High School, Author has half a braincell, Because he deserves better, Dani is 16, Edrisa is 16, F/M, First??? Fanfiction, Gil is dad™, Group Therapy, Here we go sluts, Honestly I have no clue what I'm doing but I'm doing something, Hurt/Comfort, In this house we stan Jackie Arroyo, JT is 17, Jackie is dead tho, Malcolm is 16, Malcolm was 8 when Martin was arrested, Mental Health Issues, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Drug Addiction, Past Gang Involvement, Past Suicide Attempt, Sunshine is Malcolm's Service Dog, Tally is 16, Therapy, This fic is the embodiment of 'felt cute might delete later', Triggers, because i make the rules, i have no idea how american high schools work, i made mr. david a teacher, no beta we die like men, past emotional/psychological abuse, this became a meme real fast huh, yes i changed the ages lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:54:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22805863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/paranoidpeaches
Summary: High School AU fic because no one else was doing it.
Relationships: JT Tarmel/Tally Tarmel, Just that for now
Comments: 7
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Service Dogs, Support Groups, and Avengers: Oh My!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21101462) by [o0citrusee0o](https://archiveofourown.org/users/o0citrusee0o/pseuds/o0citrusee0o). 



> Hey uhhh, this is my first?? fanfic so bare with me? I honestly don't have a plan for this story. I Just got inspired at 3 am and decided to write this chapter.

“You’ll be fine! You have Sunshine and permission to leave class whenever you feel overwhelmed.”

Malcolm sighed, hunching his shoulders as he sat on the living room floor. He buried his face into Sunshine’s fur. The golden retriever was fully decked out in her service dog gear, panting as she nuzzled her handler.

“I mean, Do I have to take her? I’m pretty sure I can make it through the day without her.”  
Jessica whirled around from where she was fussing with his backpack “Nonsense! She’s here to help you, and what better day to do that than the first day at your new school?”

Malcolm huffed, “I don’t know, I feel like having her will solicit too much attention.”

Jessica’s expression softened. She kneeled beside him, grabbing his hand “This is a good thing. A new school, a fresh start after, what happened…. She trailed off as her son looked down.  
“You’ll have fun! Learn new things, make friends-”  
Malcolm let out a dejected chuckle at that. Jessica frowned opening her mouth to berate him as a loud “WHOOP” interrupted her. 

“I’m readyyy~” Ainsley yelled as she bounded down the stairs. She skidded to a halt beside her brother, clutching her backpack. “Mornin’ mom! Heyyy Sunshine!” She made a kissy face at the dog. “Hey bro-bro! Ready for your first day?” Malcolm groaned resuming his position face first in Sunshine’s fur. Ainsley giggled “ I guess that’s a no.” She plopped down beside him “Don’t worry, you’ll do great!” 

She turned to their mother, “So who’s taking us? Adolpho?”

Jessica shook her head, smiling, “No darling, I have something much better in mind.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Gil!” Ainsley called as she ran down the steps. She bounced over to him, who was leaning on his car, sunglasses on and lollipop in mouth. “Hey princess.” He said, pulling her into a hug. Malcolm came down next, gripping Sunshine’s harness as they descended the steps at a much slower pace, Jessica following closely behind him, the sunlight hitting his face making him wince.

“Hey kid.” Gil greeted, releasing his hug with Ainsley. “Jessica.” He nodded at her, who nodded back. He looked back at Malcolm. “How are you doing?”  
“Giving it my full 90%.” Malcolm snarked as he walked up to the car. Gil laughed, enveloping him in a hug. “Missed you too kid, ready for your big day?”

“I swear if I had a dollar every time someone asked me that.”

“Alright, alright, I get it, but how are you doing really?” Gil replied, holding him at arm’s length, rubbing his neck and looking in his eyes.

A sigh, “Ok I guess, nervous for sure.” He looked down at Sunshine, who looked back at him, nosing his hand as she checked in with him.

“Ok.” Gil looked down at the dog smiling at her, who lolled at her tongue in response.  
“Come on we’re gonna be late!” Ainsley said, opening the door to the back seat and climbing in. She scooted over and patted the area beside her, looking expectantly at her brother.

Malcolm took a breath, then slowly exhaled as he got in the car “Up Sunshine.” The golden hopped up into the car and settled beside him. 

“Remember I spoke to the nurse. You have permission to go to her office to calm down. The principal assured me he let the staff know but if anyone does give you a hard time let me know and I’ll make certain they remember for next time.” Jessica had been on the warpath a couple of days before, storming the school with medical papers from the hospital and his therapist to ensure that he had proper accommodations for the school year. “Your backpack should have all of Sunshine’s gear. Some girl named Dani should be waiting for you at the front of the school to show you to your class Do you have your emergency medication?” Malcolm nodded “I packed it last night in Sunshine’s vest.” 

“Well, have a good day, both of you. Gill will pick you both up after school. Call me if you need anything.”

Malcolm nodded and Ainsley waved as Gil pulled out of the driveway.

Their first stop was Ainsley’s middle school, she gave her brother a hard squeeze before getting out. “You’ll do great.” She assured him. He ducked his head. “Thanks Ains.” 

“See you later Gil!”

“Later kid. Have a good day.”

Malcolm stared out of the window as they pulled out of the drop off line, absently stroking Sunshine.

“You ok Bright?” 

He looked up, “Yea, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well for one I can hear your foot tapping the car floor over my music and morning traffic.”

Malcolm stilled his bouncing foot. He hadn’t even realized he was doing it. “I’m fine.”

Gil hummed at that, then started chatting about plans they could make for the weekend, to distract him, Malcolm noted absentmindedly.

It wasn’t working.

Sunshine stuck her nose into his tremoring hand, looking up at him. He smiled at her. On one hand, he was glad she was here with him she had a calming presence and was trained to help him. But there would be people, so many people watching him.

Wondering why he had Sunshine.

Wondering why he transferred schools in the middle of the year.

Soon enough they’d start asking questions.

That’s how most people were, thinking they had a right to dig into his life, to know everything-

His spiraling thoughts were interrupted by a feeling of warmth, Sunshine had clambered up into his lap, applying *deep pressure therapy. He gripped her fur, allowing himself to focus.

He looked out the window again, noticing that they were in the drop off line. Moving at a slow pace as other families dropped off their children.

“We’re here, kid.” Gil turned around. “You sure about this? You know you can just do a half day, a couple of classes then I can pick you back up after lunch.”

The idea seemed appealing, but he was sick of worrying them, he could do this.

“No, I can do this.”  
As they moved further up the line he noticed people starting to stare at Sunshine in his lap, “Sunshine, lay down.” he murmured. She obeyed laying down comfortably, head in his lap.

Gil pulled into the drop off zone, “Ok kid, look at me.” He looked up meeting his gaze. “You’re not broken, you don’t need to be fixed, Sunshine is just here to help you navigate through your day and I know Dani personally, she’s a good kid. Don’t think too much ok Sherlock Freud? Malcolm smiled at the nickname “ Ok, thanks Gil.” “ No problem kiddo. Have a good day, call me if you need anything.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dani takes Malcolm around the school and gets introduced to her crazy ass friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 here we go bois
> 
> I have absolutely no clue how American high schools work.  
> Also!!! I added in Tally!!!
> 
> (Also also, a mean girls reference. Because why the hell not)

Dani was tired.

Dani was tired, had a headache and was really regretting volunteering to show the new guy around.  
Her phone vibrated in her pocket, she grunted as she fished it out.

**Group Chat: The Team**

**the morgue:** YALL!!! DANI!!!!

 **jarmel tarmel:** its 8 am yo way too early for all caps

 **tally-O:** whats the occasion? :0

 **the morgue:** HAVE YOU SEEN HIM YET??

 **jarmel tarmel:** really? you disturbed my rest over some random new kid

 **jarmel tarmel:** honestly you’d think someone never transferred schools before smh

 **tally-O:** yea but in the middle of the school year?? seems pretty sus to me. gotta agree with edrisa im pretty to hyped to see him :3

 **jarmel tarmel:** wow i cant believe youve done this. betrayed by my own girlfriend.

 **royal-tea:** chill guys. no i havent seen him yet.

 **tally-O:** boo you whore

Dani snorted as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. She was apprehensive about this new guy. Her friend group was very close-knit, but she had to admit she was pretty curious. She scanned the crowd until she spotted him.

He looked lost, gripping his dog’s leash like a lifeline. He was wildly surveying the crowd, looking for her. She made her way over to him.

“Hey Malcolm right?”

He jumped, whirling around to look at her. “ Yea umm….Dani? Dani Powell?”

“That’s me.” She replied. “I’m here to show you to your classes. Ready to go?”

“Yea, yea, of course let's go.” He tugged on the dog’s leash. “ Heel.”  
The dog obediently followed, trotting after it’s handler as they entered the building.

Walking through the hallway, she took the time to look him up and down. He was scrawny for sure, with bags under his eyes that could probably hold a couple hundred dollars worth of groceries. Jeez didn’t this kid sleep? He seemed to be shaking with a nervous energy, eyes darting around as he took in the unfamiliar sights. It wasn’t long before people started staring, whispering about them in not so quiet conversations. The kid seemed to take note of this, shrinking in on himself.

“You’re dog got a name?” She asked.

That broke him out of his reverie. 

“Uhhh yeah, her name is Sunshine.”

Sunshine looked up as she heard her name. “ You named….your dog…..Sunshine?” 

“Yep!” He gave her a strange look “Don’t make it weird.” He grinned.

Oh, so they were gonna play it.

She gave him a short smile. “So we’re in the same homeroom, we should go there first for registration and math class as our homeroom teacher also doubles as our math teacher. Then I can take you to whatever classes you need to go to afterward. How does that sound?”

“Good, great!”

She nodded. The pair soon entered their homeroom. There were already a few students lounging around the classroom. All conversation stopped as all eyes turned on them. Malcolm shifted uncomfortably as the dog nosed his leg. Then as quickly as it stopped it started up back again.

“Is that the new kid?”

“Look there’s a dog with him!”

“What’s a dog doing here?”

“Don’t you see the vest you idiot it’s one of them service dogs.”

“I wonder what it’s for?”

Dani turned towards him, “I’m gonna go to my seat.” He gave her a panicked look and she felt sympathy for him. “There’s one empty seat on the left of me if you wanna have it.” Shrugging she started walking towards her seat in the middle portion of the classroom, sitting down and making herself comfortable. Malcolm paused, then came over to the vacant seat on her left, next to the window. He sat down “Sunshine, downstay.” the golden laid down next to him, resting her head on her front paws.

“RIP to Tally’s old homeroom teacher Ms.Vanessa Hobbs.” Dani looked up to see JT sitting next to her. “She was hot, unmarried and rich, just my type.” He grinned at her and she reciprocated.

“So you’re a necrophiliac?”

Malcolm was looking at them, leaning over on his desk as their conversation had piqued his interest.

“What no!” JT’s face scrunched up in disgust as he looked over at Malcolm and then at Dani “Who’s this guy?”

She decided to take it upon herself to introduce the two.

“JT this is the new kid, Malcolm. Malcolm, this is JT.” “You’re not gonna like each other.” She mumbled under her breath.

“Good to know.” Malcolm said. “Do you know what caused her unfortunate passing?”

JT snorted looking over at Dani “Apparently she was looking to bang.”

“Bang. Do you always associate intercourse with violence?”

“Bro right now the only thing I’m associating is-”

“Good morning class!”  
“Good morning Mr. David!” The class echoed.

JT shot Malcolm a glare before turning to face the front.

“As you know we have a new student.” He nodded in Malcolm’s direction. “Malcolm Whitly. As some of you might have already noticed, he has entered the school with a service dog. That being said, no one is to pet or distract the dog. No trying to feed it treats or attempting to call it over to you. I know some of you might try to walk close and ‘accidentally’ bump into it. Yes I know some of you students think you’re slick, there will be none of that. Also, absolutely no one is to ask why he has a service dog. Do I make myself clear?”

The students replied with a chorus of “Yes Mr. David.” Most of them were now looking over at him. Malcolm himself looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there at that moment, shrinking in his seat. His right hand shook as Sunshine moved into a sitting position, nudging his hand with her muzzle. He smiled at her and began running his shaking hand over her ears.

Mr. David took the register and started on the lesson. Dani groaned, burying her face in her hands, her brain couldn’t handle math first thing in the morning. JT was looking just as done as she was. She snuck a glance at Malcolm. He was completely sucked into the lesson, watching Mr. David drone on with rapt attention as Sunshine snoozed by his feet. Lucky dog.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What do you have next?”  
Math class was finally over. Dani, Malcolm, JT, and Sunshine were walking down the hallway. People stopped to stare as they walked past.

“AP biology.”

“Huh, you’ll be in the same class as Edrisa then.”

“I’m sorry, who?”

Her reply was cut off by a “Dani! JT!” Edrisa jogged up to them clutching something tightly. “Oh hello! You must be Malcolm heh heh…..”

He smiled “Hello, yes that would be…me, and you are...?” “Edrisa! Edrisa Tanaka!” She offered her hand, forgetting about the item she was holding as it fell to the floor. 

“Oh no I’m so so sorry. Let me just-”

“It’s fine! I got it.” Malcolm scooped up the item from the floor. “Is this a suture practice kit?”

“Oh um yes! I was practicing during registration.”

“May I?” He said putting his hand on the lid of the box. “Of course! Go right on ahead.”

He opened the box and gasped at the contents. “Wow….This suture work is amazing!” He looked up at her. “You’re like Picasso with formaldehyde.”

Edrisa laughed, a blush spreading across her face as she spluttered out “Thanks. And you are..uh...Very slender.” 

“Yea well, most food makes me sick.”

JT turned to Dani, “What’s happening?” Dani pursed her lips and looked down. “Classes should have started by now, I advise that we go?”

Edrisa shot her a glare as Malcolm said “Right, right. Let’s go.” He gestured towards the door looking at Edrisa, “After you?”

“Thank you!” She opened the door, walking in. Malcolm gave Dani a quick nod. “ Thank you.” He said as he went in after Edrisa.

Dani’s phone vibrated as she was settling into her seat in her economics class. She glanced at the teacher, who had his back turned to the class. She quickly pulled out her phone.

**Group Chat: The Team**

**the morgue:** OH MY GOD HE’S SO HOT DANI WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME HE WAS SO PRETTY FHJHGCFGJ

 **tally-O:** wait is he really oml dani how could you withhold such important information from us??

 **the morgue:** HIS DOG IS SO CUTE AS WELL HE TOLD ME HER NAME IS SUNSHINE ISNT THAT SO PRECIOUS!!!!

 **tally-O:** wait what :0

 **tally-O:** dog?? in the school??

 **jarmel tarmel:** apparently its some kinda service dog. idk we’re not allowed to ask abt it

 **tally-O:** oh ok cool beans (◡‿◡✿)

 **royal-tea:** please never say that with that smiley face ever again

 **tally-O:** :(

 **tally-O:** significantly less cool beans

 **tally-O:** hot beans (◡‿◡✿)

 **royal-tea:** oh my god

 **the morgue:** The teacher is pairing us up for labs I’m going to ask him if he wants to be my partner.

 **the morgue:** HE SAID YES IM SO HAPPY NOW HE SITS NEXT TO ME I H*CKING CANT

 **jarmel tarmel:** did

 **jarmel tarmel:** did you just censor the word heck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story turned into a meme real fast huh.
> 
> Also, I saw snow for the first time today and let me just say its the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Its like a million feathers falling from the sky.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to mosey down to my Tumblr! You can find a drawing/reference and more information about Sunshine the service dog here!
> 
> *Deep pressure therapy (DPT)—or just pressure therapy—involves a dog using its weight and sometimes warmth to mitigate a psychiatric symptom, often either as a calming strategy or to minimize disengagement from the world. The dog recognizes the handler’s command or the person’s symptom itself, such as anxiety, a depressive episode, a flashback, etc., and is trained to respond with DPT.
> 
> Comments are always appreciated! I'm not a service dog handler myself but I've done plenty of research! Please correct me if I get anything wrong!


End file.
